Macy’s announced that they will be laying off approximately 2,500 employees and closing some stores, according to a Chicago Tribune report on Thursday. The retail merchandiser is making the reductions in staff and brick-and-mortar points of sale as a portion of its cost-cutting initiative.

In the employee cuts, the employment cuts will involve front-end employees at some stores. Additionally, behind-the-scenes employees – such as central office personnel - will be cut as well.

The Midwest and North regions of the business are being restructured to streamline its operations, according to the report. In the spring of this year, five of the Macy’s stores are to be shut down. The stores affected are in Arizona, Kansas, Missouri, New York, and Utah. However, there are eight new and replacement Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s allegedly coming.

Macy’s will have 844 stores, in total. The alterations in process should save the firm some $100 million annually.